FIL-AM COMMUNITY SPREADS HOLIDAY CHEER TO LOLOS AND LOLAS AT PH CONSULATE-HOSTED CHRISTMAS PARTY
SAN FRANCISCO, USA – A holiday staple returned to the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco, as it hosted the annual Christmas party for Filipino and Filipino American seniors on 2 December 2022.
Co-organized with the Pilipino Senior Resource Center (PSRC) and the Bay Area Ateneans, a group of alumni from the Ateneo de Manila University, the Consulate hosted more than 80 lolas and lolos from the PSRC and the Canon Kip Senior Center for the holiday celebration.
Philippine Consul General Neil Ferrer and Mrs. Miriam Ferrer led the Consulate in welcoming the Filipino elders to the Consulate, their “second home in the Bay Area.” In his remarks, Consul General Ferrer paid tribute to the senior members of the Filipino American Community.
“[This] Christmas party is our way of honoring and thanking our lolas and lolos for pioneering the Filipino American Community here in the Bay Area… Through their hard work, perseverance, and wisdom, they have become a living example to their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren that they can achieve success in America without turning their back on their ancestral roots,” Consul General Ferrer said.
Consul General Ferrer thanked the PSRC for its service to the community, which was recognized recently by San Francisco’s Asian Pacific Islander (API) Legal Outreach through the conferment of the George Hirabayashi Community Impact Award. He also thanked the Bay Area Ateneans for staying true to the Ateneo maxim of being “man and woman for others.”
In response, PSRC Executive Director Gabby Moraleda thanked the Consulate and the Bay Area Ateneans “for making our lolos and lolas feel that they are remembered and loved during this time of the year.”
The Bay Area Ateneans distributed gift cards at the event, and sponsored raffle prizes such as rice cooker, air fryer and blender. Consul General Ferrer, the Department of Tourism Office in San Francisco, and the Farmers Insurance Group also donated prizes for the raffle. The seniors spent the rest of the celebration indulging in the familiar joys of Filipino food, music and dance. END
